Description
Two helicopters collided in mid-air killing four people on Australia's Gold Coast tourist destination today, authorities said, with footage showing one of the plane's rotors resting on a sandbar. Three other people are in critical condition, police said. A helicopter lay overturned in the sand a few meters from the shore. Their rotors were a short distance away, according to images from the public network ABC.
The other helicopter was found to be mostly intact at the accident site, which is located near the popular Sea World maritime theme park. A bright yellow rescue helicopter had landed on the sand nearby, its rotors spinning, footage of the aftermath showed, as dozens of rescuers dispersed over the area. Several police and lifeboats were standing by near the sandbar littered with the wreckage of the two planes.
"Those two planes, when they collided, crash-landed and landed on the sandbar just outside the Sea World resort," Acting Queensland Police Inspector Gary Worrell told an on-site press conference. "As a result, four people died today," he said. "Three others are in critical condition in hospital."
Australia's Transport Safety Agency launched an investigation into the incident, describing it as a "mid-air collision".
